Travis - sflraver

Add towing tie downs under the car (front and back).

ausgeflippt951

Hmm I like the price of that. O2 sensors are not all that complicated, correct? So the only consideration really is whether they'll fit in the preexisting O2 bung?

Do you have an N/A or 951? Can I use the taurus unit on my 951?

Wipeout

I believe it's the same O2 sensor either way.

pjburges

1.Some fresh oil and a filter + a motor flush before the change- a bypass filter is nice too, and even better having a bypass filter with the 951 oil cooler!

2.Making sure you're CV joints are good

3.Fresh redline or SWEPCO oil in the gearbox makes a world of difference shifting.

4.Adjust the shift linkage and replace all the bushings in the linkage to make it tight again.

5.Rebuild your clock. Again.

6.Get a power steering and rack rebuild kit if yours is leaking, or switch to the manual rack if its your taste.

7.Get an alignment - after you replace all the bushings in the front end that rotted out because of your power steering leak.

8.Flush your coolant system and put some fresh stuff in.

9.This might sound like it wouldnt work but try "Diesel Kleene with a cetane boost" in the injection system - its the best fuel cleaner I have ever used in gas or diesel cars.

10.Get rid of your Platinum plugs and buy all the Bosch Supers in the store if you are in Texas as they are phasing them out here.

11.Clean all the grounds in the car, and run independent grounds from the two front chassis grounds near the headlights back to the battery - this will brighten up your turn signals, foglights, and headlights quite a bit.

12.Break down and fix your odometer, and while you are there install some LED backights or replace your old bulbs with new.

13.If the car always has a slight odor of gas - replace the sending unit seal - theyve gone bad on most cars now.

14. FULLY Rebuild all your brake calipers and put in fresh fluid - re-machine or get new rotors, some nice new pads...will make your brakes feel COMPLETELY different.

I could think of more but the post might get too long! - OH! Verify all your vaccuum connections and make sure they're good.

Jfrahm

I have an S2. I believe the Taurus sensor will work fine on a 951. The Saab 9000 people suggest a Mustang 5.0 sensor for the 9000 Turbo, I just bought one and it looks like the same sensor that is on my other cars. Under $40 from my local (10% off sale.) I want to change the one on my 928 also, I might grab another one.

-Joel.

Jfrahm

Good stuff. You can also swap your axles Left for Right to get more wear out of them, but you need good triple square bits and getting the bolts in to stay is not so easy. I plan to replace the triple squares with hex heads and saftey wire 'star' washers when I do this. Chasing the bolt holes, cleaning out the threads of any spooge, and locktiting should work but many have had problems with these bolts backing out.

As for the shifter bushing replacement, good suggestion. Mine is getting a bit loose. I will look for a procedure to sort that out.

Another one: The hatch lock surround is a cheap part and is pretty easy to replace. If yours is cracked, might as well replace it. I did mine last year, should have done it years ago.

-Joel.

Mamooguy

Oh, good one! I'll definitely do that front ground idea, that's excellent.

That's an excellent one too!

Another one I thought of: check and condition the weatherstripping, especially around the rear hatch.

It's also worth considering doing a bit of deleting if stuff not just for weight savings but also if it just plain doesn't work (A/C system, rear wiper, stuff like that).

xsboost90

not sure what the difference is between fixing something up and modding it- unless you mean fixing stuff thats broke- that should be common sense

my a/c works- threw some seals and 134a w/ oil in there and been good three months or so.

+1 for adding tow hooks- i put some rears on the last two cars- awsome for towing on a trailer!

Luis de Prat

Good one! If you've already done this, I'd appreciate more info in a pm (how to, parts, etc.)

Mamooguy

That reminds me of something else: engine seals! It may not be necessary to rebuild the entire engine, but it's a good thing to keep in the back of your mind whenever you do have to do some work on the car ... seals are a very good "while I'm in there" sort of thing.

Also coolant hoses. Replacing them all is a big job, but it's worth considering. Not to mention transmission seals.

And filters ... transmission fluid filter, fuel filter, oil filter, the works.

Z-man

Not to nit-pick, but your own post is in violation of your rules:

- licence plate cover
- steering wheel cover
- Pedal covers
These are all "mods" if mods are defined as non-original.

Um no. To make the car handle better, you want to lower the center of gravity, NOT raise it. If you are bottoming out with a light load in your car, you need to replace your worn-out shocks, not raise the rear height of your car.

That said, I thought this thread was about improving your 944 in terms of performance, and not just esthetics.

If I may post some things to make your 944 perform much better (as the risk of postig some "mods" ) may I offer:

1. Replace rear swaybar with a "+1" unit. (Example: keep from sway stock, and get an M030 19mm rear swaybar). Helps dial out understeer.

2. Use wider tires. My car came stock with the following setup:
Front: 205-55/16 tires on 7Jx16 wheels
ReaR: 225-50/16 tires on 8Jx16 wheels.
Upgrading to the following is better:
Front: 225-50/16 on 7Jx16
Rear: 245-45/16 on 8Jx16.
Better yet:
Front and rear: 245-45/16 on 8Jx16 wheels.

3. Drop the rear of the car to european spec. (See clark's garage for the procedure).

4. Lower the ride height of the front. NOTE: if you still have a stock suspension, you can only lower the car a little (sorry, I don't know the exact specs). Otherwise, you can stress the A-arm (due incorrect ball joint geometery), and possibly cause catastrophic ball-joint failure.

5. Replace worn out swaybar and suspension bushings with new rubber or delrin bushings.

6. Replace worn stock caster blocks with 968 units. (Acutally, if you look it up in PET, Porsche only lists the 968 unit as the replacement for worn caster blocks on the 944 cars.)

7. For 944 n/a's, as stated above, the throttle cam upgrade makes the throttle response more snappy.

8. For 944S2's and 944 Turbos, you can bypass the coolant flow through the throttle body if you don't drive the car in frigid climates. (The purpose of the coolant going through the throttle body was to prevent sticking TB's due to icing.) This means your intake air temp will probably be 0.005 degrees less. Yeah, it is only a marginal difference, but it can add up to a 0.0002 hp increase.

9. Lighten the car. Some things that can be done simply:
- remove the rear seatback. (two bolts and it is gone) - saves about 20 lbs.
- remove the A/C unit (need A/C delete bracket) - saves 40lbs.
- remove power seats (they are quite heavy)
- use a smaller, lighter battery

10. Upgrade the brake lines to stainless steel units -- they won't flex as much as the rubber units. Just be sure to replace these lines more often, as you can't visually inspect the inner rubber tube.

-Z-man.

F18Rep

"Rebuild your clock. Again."

OK, I give up, how do ya do that? I know how to replace one but rebuilding is new to me...bruce

Luis de Prat

Not to nit pick, but these things all sound more like "restoration" than modification, to me. E.g., if you recover your steering wheel I don't think you're modifying it.

With exception of the license plate cover which primarily serves to "preserve" not modify.

Mamooguy

Sometimes you just need to replace the little clock light. But personally I read that to mean "replace." Having done a replacement myself I can't imagine bothering to rebuild the little bugger.

Jfrahm

A mod thread is likely to be a lot longer, more diverse, and full of subjective stuff. Mods are a personal thing, fix-up stuff is pretty much universally good. There are plenty of fix-up suggestions to deserve a separate thread. There have been mod threads in the past, I'm sure. No point in putting all that info into one big convoluted thread.

Fixing something up does not require the part to be broken, there are lots of things to clean, refinish, adjust, etc. Most of the things on the list so far are for running/driving cars. Most 924/944 cars I see in the wild are in need of lots of TLC like this, even the one in my garage could stand some.

My vision for this thread was cheap/sensible/reasonably easy repairs and improvements one could do on a Sunday afternoon to a running/driving car. Something to do instead of falling asleep watching baseball.

-Joel.